The Road to the 2006 MasterCard Memorial Cup

By pbadmin

May 16th, 2006

WHL Press Release

GIANTS’ MEMORIAL CUP OPPONENTS SET – The Vancouver Giants now know the competition they will face at the 2006 MasterCard Memorial Cup tournament.

The tournament, beginning Friday, May 19th in Moncton, NB, sees the champions of the three CHL leagues – the Western Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey League, and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League – and the host team compete for the Major Junior Hockey’s biggest prize, the storied Memorial Cup.

The Giants, of course, will represent the WHL at the tournament, having won the WHL Championship after a 4-0 sweep of the Moose Jaw Warriors in the best-of-seven final.

It was the first WHL championship title for the Giants since joining the League in 2001-02.

Vancouver’s three opponents include the hosts Moncton Wildcats, who also wrapped up the QMJHL Championship on Sunday with a 4-2 best-of-seven series win over the Quebec Remparts.

The Remparts, coached by NHL goaltending legend Patrick Roy, also earned a berth in the Memorial Cup tournament as the QMJHL runner-up.

Rounding out the competition is the OHL’s Peterborough Petes, who earn their berth in the tournament as the OHL Champions. The Petes completed a 4-0 sweep of the defending OHL and Memorial Cup Champion London Knights in the OHL Championship series.

The 2006 MasterCard Memorial Cup tournament round robin kicks off on Friday with the Peterborough Petes taking on the Quebec Remparts.

The Giants open their round robin portion of the tournament on Saturday, May 20th versus the hosts, Moncton.

All games of the 2006 MasterCard Memorial Cup tournament can be seen live on Rogers Sportsnet.